Suspended dismountable partitions for industrial buildings



I s Umted States Patent 3,533,977

(72] Inventor Jacques Leon Alexandros 1,251,499 l/1918 Gampp 160/222X Paris, France 1,385,023 7/1921 Parodi et a1. 160/202X [2]] Appl. No. 770,999 1,468,433 9/1923 Zackow 160/193 [22] Filed Oct. 28, 1968 3,086,584 4/1963 l-loumere.... 160/168 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,304,994 2/1967 Kozak 160/202 [73] Assume 523;; Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Priority oct- 967 Attorney lmme & Smiley [33] France [31] 125,993

ABSTRACT: The hanging dismountable partition for industri- SUSPENDED DISMOUNTABLE PARTITIONSFOR 21 buildings oomprises a suspension iron part of U-shape INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS .whose end is fixed to the roofing of the building and whose 9 7 Drawing 3 flanges have a series of holes for positioning pins from which 52 [1.8. CI. 160/202 Partially Overlapping Panels Suspended and on which other [51] I c], 05 5 1 similar panels are hooked also overlapping each other and the [50] Field of Search 160/202, superimlmsed P311619 The P P the hanging 193 92 22 22 196, 197 fromthose hooked on the suspension iron parts arerespectively provided with a rigid stem. of substantially T-shape. [56] R f r Ci offset indrelationl tg |one oftthehlateizil flzioeks of thte tganel to an exten ver s1 t rea ert ant et 16 nesso e ane UNITED STATES PATENTS and loosely sl i ding in a member carried by the panel i imel,234,873 7/1917 Clampitt 160/202X diately above it.

' Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,538,973

INVENTOR J'Acqus; 1.. A. sea

Sheet 3 of4 Flag F165.

INVENTOR JACQUES 1.. A. SEE

Pitenied Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet 3 FieB. JACQQES Patented Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet susrsNoanoisMouNrAsLE PARTITIONS FOR? 'I'NQUSTRIAP BU mNG I It is important, inmany industrial buildings, particularly in warehouses, todivide up coveredsurfaces, in which various I radial stem '21 whose end part comprises two lateral extenproducts or material arestored- For this'pl fposc, removable It has, however, been noticedth at the. partitions used up-to.

now only imperfectly carryoutthe second functionmentionedi abovefMost frequently'buildings do not hayea flat roof, butonthe contrary, since roofs-have one or moreslopes, it would be. exceptional that removablerpartitions could be erected: up to the roof. without leavingany free spaceThere is thus nearly always, immediately below the roof, areas where air can rapidly circulate andtheseareas increase the risks of causing fire by generating hot. gases along the roofiif a fire should take place in one of the compartments confinedpby the partitions.

The present inyention. seeks to, obviate the above-mentioned disadvantage. by creating, a: new suspended partition which can be very. easily put up and, taken down; The suspended partition oftheinvention prevents any air circula-' tion passage. level with the roof-,uwhatever the slope this roof niayhave, so. thata circulation ,of. hot. gasin the case offlre is prevented. r

Accordingv to the invention, the partition includes a substantially urshapedsiispensionpart whose endlisfixed to the roofing of the building and .whose flangeshavea series of holes receiving pins,,panels.beingpivotallycarried .by said pins and overlappingoneanotherLThe, panelsinclude hooks on which other similar .panels-are'hooked, these similar panels also over.- lapping each .other. inrthe first+mentionedpanels. The. panels are disposed in vertical rows, each panelbeing provided with a rigid stem of substantially T-shape; offset in relation togone of the'lateral facesof the. panel and'loosely sliding in the hook of i the [panel irn mediately, thereabove. whereby the. panels; may

.pivot around the. respective pins. or hooks tobdvertica'lly.

disposed regardless of the slope of the roofing. q Various other, characteristics of the; invention revealed bythe detailed description which follows.

An embodiment of theinverition, is shown, bywayof nonwill" be.

restrictive example,.in,the attached-drawing.

F 1 is (a partialj frontelevation, partlyin section, of the partition. 1

FIG. 2f is afront elevationof. onerof the elements forming.

scale, along the -,line

- The partition is intended; to be mountedat the-top part1 ofa.

building: comprisingwalls; and. agroof Thepartition, intended to form, a protecting, screens agairrst,;;a possible fire,

' comprisesone or moregU-shaped metal, parts 6,,for-exarnple,

of bent steel plating provided on theirrend with1fixing'mem-.

bers- .not shown for attaching; to the roof- 3. These Q fixing members can.begmade. in; numerous different ways for ensur-t ingy either definite. fixing, or. removable. mounting, when. it is necessary frequentlyto change theplaceof'the hanging parti' tions as a function of the dividing up ,ofithe.covered surface affordedby the building...

The metalparts 6}.comprise. .two flanges 6a:,and.6b with:

equidistant holes-for. positioning pins 9 forpivotally; suspendingthe panels.1t) formingthepartition..

- part 6, by means-of pins 9 passing through the discs 20 of the sions 22. The stem 21, which is substantially of T-shape, is offset laterally in relation to one face of the disc 20 to an extent slightly greater than the thickness of the disc. The disc 20 also comprises, between its center and the part of its periphery from which the stem 21 extends, a-member or stirrup piece 23 fixed, in any suitable removable manner, to the opposite face of the disc. The member 23, which is placed crosswise to the radial axis of the stem 21, forms internally a passage 24 whose height is slightly greater than the thickness of the stem 21 and whose width is less than the dimension between the extreme edges of the extensions 22.

For, making the partition, the stems 21 of a first row of panels 10 are pivotally connected to the iron parts 6 by pins 9 extendingthrough the flanges 6a and 6b and in the holes 25 made in the stems 21 of said panels 10. The distance between the holes provided in the flanges 6a and 6b for inserting the pins 9 is so chosenthat two panels-lfl'tliat are contiguous partially overlap, conflningoverlapping areas 13 and extending at least up to the level of one of the iron flanges 6, for example, flange'6a. Then asecond row of panels 10 is used whose stems 21 may or may not have the hole 25. Eachpanel 10 forming the-secondrow is placed on the corresponding panel 10 of the first row, so that the stems 21 are placed according to the same vertical-axis-while partially overlapping. The holding of the second panel is ensured by member 23 engaging the stem 21 of the second panel, said member 23 being completely fixed on the disc 20 of the first panel. The second panel 10 thusmounted can slidein relation to the first panel to a dimension'corresponding to the radial'extent of the stem 21 between the corresponding peripheral edge of the disc 20 and the lateral 'extensions 2 2.'As can be seen in FIG. 4, the mounting of the second panel l0 is made so that the lateral offsetting of 1 the stem 21 is placed in the same direction as that of the stem 21 of the first panel. 1! follows that between the two assembled panels, there exists'a space 26 corresponding to the thickness of the discs 20. An arrangement of this kind is chosen so that it is possible laterally to overlap the various panels forming each row,-and make overlapping areas 13 between two contiguous panels. V

According to the height of the partition to be made, several rows of panels are assembled and in F 10. 1, the partition comprises five horizontal rows of panels mutually overlapped. In this arrangement, it should be noticed that the lateral offsetting of the stems 21 (-F1G. 4) means that the member 23 of each panel is placed in the exact extension of the disc 20 of the panel immediately below, without then forming an obstacle preventing the free sliding of the stem 21 of a third panel 10.

The finalsetting up .ofthe partition, for instance, after positioning five rows of discs 20-, is done by mounting a lower iron lower panels 10; To this end, the discs 20 of the panels used for making the last row advantageously have a hole 27 in each one of themat a point diametrically opposed to the stem 21.

The partition made as described above is then attached to the roof 3 to extend vertically between the walls 2 which are each providedwith a vertical column 28. Each column has at leastaone hole 29"forr engaging a resilient bolt 30 mounted on.

theendofthe lower iron'part 6 The position of the hole 29 in disc 20;preferably made of thin iron sheetincluding a rigid each column 28 -is choseninrelation to the roof 3 so that the" engaging.ofresilientbolts 30 of the iron part 6 ensures holding of said iron part in a maximum retracted position of the .partitionfor which the panels 1 0'have been subjected to a relative sliding corresponding to the radial dimension of the stem 21 and comprisedzforeach panel: between the extreme edge andthe extensions 22'..Each panel 10'is thus substantially heldabutting'oneither'side of the associated stem 21 against the member 23. of the panel 10 immediately thereabove. So-

thatthepartition-has no empty space, especially level with the edges of the extremevertical rows of panels 10, the iron parts I 6 and6 are connectedby plates31 telescopically inserted on the columns 28 for covering'the'various discs 20 for an extent appreciably equal to half. the overlapping areas 13. in thismanner, the partition has no empty space since the various panels are mutually overlapped by their discs for confining the covering areas 13, and are also partially inserted in the iron parts 6 and 6, and being also covered by the plates 31 with regard tothe discs 20 of the extreme vertical rows of panels 10.

The partition described above is preferably-but not necessarilymounted as a removable partition placed inside a building for dividing up the covered surface with a view to separating different hatches of products or materials. Should fire break out in one of the compartments defined inside the building, the unbolting of the bolts is effected automatically or by hand so as to release the lower iron part 6, which is moved vertically by gravity. During the descending movement of the iron part 6,, the lower panels 10 slide by their stems 21 in the members 23 of the panels immediately above, up to the moment when the lateral extensions 22 bear on said members. It then follows that the row immediately above the discs 20 is also moved in a vertical descending direction for controlling, in a similar manner, the sliding of the panels of the row im mediately above. in this manner, an extension of the partition is made so that the iron part 6, bears on the top edge of the removable partition dividing the covered surface of the building with a view to totally isolating two contiguous compartments so as to limit the risks of causing a fire.

In the extended position shown in FIG. 6, it should be noticed that the discs 20 of the various panels 10 are always mutually overlapped. showing overlapping areas 13. Likewise, the vertical downwards movement of the iron parts 6, entails the telescopic sliding of the various plates 31, so that the partition has no intermediate empty space capable of permitting a draught or hot gas to circulate, which could cause a fire.

The possibility of extending the partition is obviously determined by the radial length of the stem 2] of each panel 10 used and by the number ol'superimposed panels forming vertical rows. Those various data are generally chosen as a function of the space that must be filled in with relation to the fixed or movable partition dividing the covered surface of the build ing, but it is obvious that in certain cases the ability to extend the partition may be greater than the opening to be closed. In such case, the extension of the partition is limited when the iron part 6, abuts against the top edge of the partition or against the ground.

In the example shown in the drawing, the partition comprises vertical rows respectively formed by five superimposed panels 10. FIG. 7 shows the case when the roofing 3' of the building has one or more slopes; the necessary compensation for holding the iron part 6, in a horizontal plane is ensured by interposing, at the corresponding level, vertical rows comprising a greater or smaller number, ofpanels 10.

In FIG. 7, each panel 10 comprises instead of the disc 20, a rectangular plate 20a whose small sides can be rectilinear or curvilinear. The invention is not restricted to the examples shown and described in detail, and various modifications can be made.

lclaim:

1. A dismountable partition to be hung from the roofing of industrial buildings characterized in that it comprises a substantially U-shaped suspension part whose end is fixed to the roofing of the building and whose flanges have a series of holes, pins received in said holes, panels pivotally carried by said pins and overlapping one another, said panels including hooks on which other similar panels are hooked, said similar panels also including hooks and overlapping each other and the first-mentioned panels, said other panels being disposed in vertical rows hanging from those on the suspension part and each being provided with a rigid stem of substantially T- shaped, offset in relation to one of the lateral faces of the associated panel to an extent greater than the thickness of the panel and loosely sliding in the hook carried by the panel immediately above it whereby the panels may pivot around the respective pins or hooks so as to he vertically disposed regardless ol'the slope ofthe roofing.

2. A partition according to claim 1. characterized in that the lowermost panels are connected by pins to a substantially horizontal part whose ends are connected to the ends of the suspension part by telescopic vertical plates cooperating with vertical guiding columns.

3. A partition according to claim 2, characterized in that the bottom part is provided with two heat-responsive resilient bolts automatically unclamped in case of fire and intended to be engaged in or released from at least two holes in the guiding columns for insuring the holding of the partition in two particular positions when the panels of each row are, on the one hand, respectively abutting by their corresponding edge against the members of the panels of the row immediately above, corresponding with a maximum retraction position of the partition, and on the other hand, relatively displaced to a maximum extent equal to the travel of the stems inside the superimposed members and corresponding to an extension position of said partition in which the bottom iron part presses on the edge of a partition dividing the covered surface of the building.

4. A partition according to claim 1, characterized in that the stem of each panel comprises two lateral extensions at its free end which form abutments cooperating with the hook carried by the panel immediately above it for limiting the displacement movement of the stem inside said hook.

5. A partition according to claim 1, characterized in that the consecutive panels of the partition are respectively mounted and assembled one on the other so that all the stems are laterally offset in the same direction.

6. A partition according to claim 1, characterized in that the hook of each panel has a thickness substantially equal to that of the panels and defines a passage whose height is slightly greater than the thickness ofthe stems and whose width is less than that between the extreme edges of the lateral extensions of said stems.

7. Partition according to claim 1, characterized in that the panels are formed by circular plates.

8. Partition according to claim 1, characterized in that the panels are formed by substantially rectangular plates.

9. A dismountable partition to be hung from the roofing of industrial buildings comprising suspension means adapted to be connected to the roofing of a building, a plurality of panels carried by said suspension means, said panels defining a plurality of vertical rows of panels slideably connected with one another between a retracted position and an extended position wherein the panels in each vertical row overlap one another in a vertical direction, said panels including offset portions defining spaces between adjacent panels in each vertical row receiving panels from an adjacent vertical row whereby panels in adjacent vertical rows overlap one another in a horizontal direction. 

